Choo Choo, Riley's Two!

September and October are busy months for this mama - my boy's birthdays are just one month apart.  I think I've decided to combine their parties next year, but I was so excited by the train party idea for Riley's second birthday that I just couldn't combine their birthdays this year!  After Hunter's Peter Pan Extravaganza, I knew that Riley's party was going to be much smaller, but I couldn't just serve cake and punch and call it a day - I still wanted to throw some fun elements into the mix.  Our guest list was cut down to close friends and family (and unfortunately cut down even more when half the guest list had to work, but that made the affair even more intimate). 

I designed the train ticket birthday invitation on a scrapbooking program I have on my computer.  It was fun to play around with some ideas and the invitation became much more personal because I made it myself.

After the invitations were sent, it was time to start crafting some train related signs to place around the house.  This was a great way to include Riley and Hunter - they love to help mommy make things.  One sunny afternoon, while Riley was napping, Hunter and I crafted away in the backyard. 

That stinkin' Railroad Crossing sign was harder than I thought it would be.  I kept printing the wrong dimensions out - but I settled with it not being perfect.  Foam board and construction paper were our best friends that day.

I made a triangle sign to hang in the house using construction paper, ribbon, and pre-made letters from the Dollar Store.

I found cute take out boxes at the Dollar Store that matched the color scheme and decided to add wheels and make them train cars for the favor boxes.  I also added wheels to some little red, rectangular shaped dishes from the Dollar Store (the Dollar store is always my friend during party planning - as well as Oriental Trading) and used them for the box cars on the food table.

A train shaped whistle (oriental trading), some bubbles to "blow some steam," a party horn and candy completed the favor boxes.  I bought the cute food tents from LilFacesPrintables and used them for the steam label too.  LilFacesPrintables is wonderful because they're reasonably priced, and they send you a link to print the décor yourself (you can change the text as needed).  I also bought a printable to iron on a shirt so that Riley's shirt matched the food tents.

The last element of the party that I had to make was a train.  I used two moving boxes from our storage room, a diaper box, an oatmeal container, rolled up brown, packing paper, red wrapping paper, and blue cellophane.  The train seemed so much cuter in my mind - but I found that wrapping an open box proved harder than I anticipated!  The train was cute, and the boys have played in it, but I just wish I could have wrapped the boxes a little cleaner (note to self: get a job wrapping presents during the holidays to perfect this work of art).  :-)



 





I ordered train conductor hats and red bandanas from Oriental Trading and hung them on a clothesline for the guests to wear and take home.

I had a few game ideas in mind (coal car races and train rides outside) but decided that ultimately, the kids just wanted to play around outside.  We did decorate a few foam trains that I purchased at...you guessed it, the Dollar Store! 

The train party was such a fun theme - especially for a two year old birthday.  With fun sayings like, "Choo Choo Riley's Two" and "Chugga, Chugga, Two-Two" it was easy to incorporate the word TWO into the train theme.  I loved using a primary color base because everything was colorful and bright.  Now I just have to store some railroad signs...hope the hubby doesn't mind! ;-)

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My mom had a small character train cake pan, which I decided to base the cake around.  I didn't have an original picture from the cake pan since it's older, so I had to use my imagination and look at a few pictures to get an idea of coloring and outlines.  I found some sugar paper and cut out different size circles to place around the sides of the cake.  Not too shabby for a mommy with no cake decorating classes under her belt!  The train track is a black licorice type candy that I bought.  The "steam" coming out of the train spells RILEY. 

My baby is TWO!  I'm glad that I have a whole year before planning anymore birthday parties.  I sure do love it - but it also happens to be a lot of work (and money) and it will be nice to recuperate before the next birthday.  I guess there is a plus to having their birthdays so close together.  :)

Happy Birthday Riley-Bear!





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